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A targeted polymer to treat colorectal cancer liver metastases

A nanosized polymer, developed by a research team from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, can selectively deliver chemotherapeutic drugs to blood vessels that feed tumors and metastases and has emerged as an effective treatment ...

Biochemists discover first new antibacterial class in decades

Vanderbilt biochemists are part of a team taking a stride toward the development of antibacterials to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections, a pervasive bacterial infection that affects 50%–60% of women in their ...

What makes a pathogen antibiotic-resistant?

Antimicrobial resistance is a story of constantly moving parts and players. With every new or tweaked antibiotic or antimicrobial drug, the targeted pathogens begin the evolutionary dance of acquiring resistance, prompting ...

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Drug resistance

Drug resistance is the reduction in effectiveness of a drug in curing a disease or improving a patient's symptoms. When the drug is not intended to kill or inhibit a pathogen, then the term is equivalent to dosage failure or drug tolerance. More commonly, the term is used in the context of diseases caused by pathogens.

Pathogens are said to be drug-resistant when drugs meant to neutralize them have reduced effect. When an organism is resistant to more than one drug, it is said to be multidrug resistant.

Drug resistance is an example of evolution in microorganisms. Individuals that are not susceptible to the drug effects are capable of surviving drug treatment, and therefore have greater fitness than susceptible individuals. By the process of natural selection, drug resistant traits are selected for in subsequent offspring, resulting in a population that is drug resistant.

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